Developmental funds provide an essential base of support for the strategic initiatives of the Cancer Center consistent with its overall planning processes. During the current project period this support was applied in three areas: recruitment of new faculty, support of pilot projects and development of shared resources. A total of fifteen new faculty were provided with recruitment support and a significant number of these have subsequently obtained peer-reviewed funding. A total of ten pilot projects were funded over the project period with a significant publication and subsequent funding record. And finally, developmental funds supported three new shared resources which are now being presented as established facilities in this application. Without question, developmental funds have provided an excellent return on investment in all three categories of support. Given the continued growth in the Cancer Center's overall research enterprise and the successful use of developmental funds in the current project period, a new request of $525,000 per year is felt to be justified. This would be allocated as $250,000 per year for new faculty recruitment, $100,000 per year for funding of pilot projects, and $175,000 per year for development of shared resources. The new shared resource facilities that will be developed with the help of these funds include the Viral Vector Core, the Epigenomics Core, and the Cancer Therapeutics and Diagnostic Screening Facility. All three cores will address important needs of the Cancer Center and will complement the function and services of already existing cores.